Happy Birthday, Jessica!

A little birthday card for today's Birthday Girl! I met her Mama in 1986, and after about 8 or 9 months of rolling our eyes at each other, we decided to be best friends. Funny how that happens. And I giggle every time I think about Jessica. She's the complete image of her Mama. We are in so much trouble when our girls hit 14, huh, Sue?!?!?! So, Today.... Happy Birthday, Jessica! Enjoy 3...
For people who might be interested: this card features my new most favorite paper: Cosmo Cricket!! (Honey Pie line) and the stamp is from theangelcompany, iloveeaster. Cardstock from stampinUp!... because every 3 year old girl needs a really bright, pink birthday card.

Remembering...

Almost 5 years ago, Ryan and I met this little girl named Destini. She was a "first-timer" in the preschool class that we were teaching at our church. She was really shy, but the one thing she WANTED to talk about was her big sister, Naomi. Unbelieveably, Naomi was killed in a car accident just 3 days later. We never got to meet her, except through her little sister's eyes. I have learned something completely remarkable from this family: God's Grace really is sufficient. I believed this completely as soon as I saw Naomi's parents standing. Beside her casket. At her funeral. The month after. That next year. Yesterday. Today. Standing. Think about that for a minute. The night before his daughter's funeral, Kyle said to me, "Just love your kids. As much as you can". We've taken this to heart. It seemed like good advice from someone who had been asked to bear the unbearable. Think about THAT for a minute... now go hug your kids!

Ok, who's crying now? Just me? Well... Naomi would have been 21 last weekend. I made this card for her sweet family. I think if it were me, I would never want people to forget my little angel.

Happy Valentines!

Well, you are all pretty well aware that I have gotten sticky fingers at my Mom's house while she and my Dad have moved to Israel. I stole this with good intentions, and goodness knows, MOM wasn't going to be making any Valentines this year (or ever... when have you EVER made a Valentine? I'm just sayin'...) So this card is for you both! Don't worry, I won't write anything in it so you can send it to ME next year!!

Kraft paper from Stampin'Up!, patterned paper from Basic Grey... and the metal Valentines tag from Mom! You really should hide your goods better! The "happy" stamp is actually a Michael's $1 stamp that said "Happy Holidays" and I cut the whole thing apart (another favorite pastime of mine) to reposition it from lengthwise to vertical, and to have the option of using the words individually. Too much free time, I'm telling you...

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY to my parents... Have a great day! Enjoy a filafel... you know, like every other day! Miss you!

Little Miss Craft-y

Like Mother, like Daughter. When I was little, my mom ALWAYS had crafts she was working on... of course, we were NEVER allowed to touch the quilling stuff, or the paints... we were however, encouraged to cross stitch, so I can't complain, TOO MUCH!!! Mom has made up for it now, as I am "allowed" to TOUCH whatever I want in her house... of course, as you all well know, she isn't home to protect her turf. What's Yours is Mine, has become the rule. Not enough incentive, however, for her to stay home. Oh well... Here's my Little Miss working hard on her Valentines... she wanted to make them herself (I couldn't be more proud!!) and we came up with 2 different designs together. I cut out the paper and stamped the images, and she colored and assembled. I am a strong believer that HANDWRITING letters or notes to people is a lost art, and I was THRILLED to see she wrote a little note on each persons card. She took this all VERY SERIOUSLY.

If you look closely, you can see my sacred (and expensive) Stampin'Up! marker beside her... yes, I caved and actually let her use them. She knew it was a big deal, too, and kept telling me she was planning on being "very careful with your pens".

This is the card she made for all the girls... complete with a little bling, because girls like that, you know...

... and a different design for all the boys... It says "you are my prince charming" and she made it very clear to me that "Not all the boys" were so charming. Ah, and so it begins. At least she has this basic fact down.

It should be noted that her brother's version of Valentines went as follows: "The teacher said we can bring Valentines if we want. And I don't want." Ah, the socially gracious boy. (see Carly's comment above) I insisted on him AT LEAST passing out lollipops, which apparently he did WITHOUT throwing them at everyone.

So proud.

Cuttle Bug Fun

Just a random card, but I am REALLY enjoying the CuttleBug and Nestablities. Paper is from Basic Grey, which is quickly becoming a favorite of mine! And the "sentiment" is theangelcompany. Take notice of the "chalk" around the edges of the words. I read a thread over at www.splitcoaststampers.com about using eye shadow to "chalk" around the edges, and I'm happy to say it completely works! And who doesn't have tons of eyeshadow? I sprayed it aftewards with Suave hairspray and let it dry so it didn't rub off, and it worked great!

Betsy's Directions Card #3

Christmas card, all from scraps. I'm happy to say, even the base of the card was a scrap. The striped paper was left over from Eli's birth announcements. Also, my NEW "fluffles" stamp! Got that cutie on sale at Michael's post-Christmas sales. Generally speaking, all cats I stamp I like to paint GRAY in honor of our bad boy cat, Cassidy. He's pretty naughty, so this suited him, as well. True story: Cassidy's ORIGINAL name was "Precious". Really? What was his "birth mother" thinking?? Obviously, something happened to him when he became a McGregor.

HB Caleb... I mean, Peter Parker

No one loves Spiderman more than our nephew, Caleb... well, ONE other person does, but it's not HIS birthday today! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB! Welcome to 5! Such a fun age.

Here's Caleb's card... of course! Just so you know, I bought this "Spider Web folder" for my CuttleBug MONTHS before I even HAD the CuttleBug... as soon as I saw it, I knew it was a "must have" for Caleb-cards. After I embossed the red cardstock, I swiped it with white craft ink and sprinkled on glittery embossing powder.

Inside view... SpiderMan sticker (Can NOT believe there are no SM stamps available!) and unfortunately, my little "border spiders" look more like ticks. ugh.

An EXTRA thing I personally LOVE about Caleb is how much he reminds me of his sweet Uncle Ryan... need I say more???